Johnny Depp through the years

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Maverick superstar Johnny Depp returns to the big screen as the iconic, swashbuckling anti-hero Jack Sparrow in the all-new “Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar’s Revenge.” The rip-roaring adventure finds down-on-his-luck Captain Jack feeling the winds of ill-fortune blowing strongly his way when deadly ghost sailors, led by the terrifying Captain Salazar (Javier Bardem), escape from the Devil's Triangle bent on killing every pirate at sea. Jack's only hope of survival lies in the legendary Trident of Poseidon, but to find it he must forge an uneasy alliance with Carina Smyth (Kaya Scodelario), a brilliant and beautiful astronomer, and Henry (Brenton Thwaites), a headstrong young sailor in the Royal Navy. At the helm of the Dying Gull, his pitifully small and shabby ship, Captain Jack seeks not only to reverse his recent spate of ill fortune, but to save his very life from the most formidable and malicious foe he has ever faced.

Johnny Depp has played the quirky Jack Sparrow for four successful Pirates movies and in honour of return of Captain Jack Sparrow, here's a walk down memory lane as we take a look at some of the other marvellous roles that the actor has played through his long and illustrious career.

Edward Scissorhands (Edward Scissorhands)

Depp's best performance has to be this collaboration with longtime friend and colleague Tim Burton. The film is considered by many to be by far the best work that either of them has done. Apparently Depp is Burton’s muse, which helps with the vivid imagination, like paying homage to the Frankenstein myth, delivering a dark fairy tale for ages, and just writing a love story for Depp and Winona Ryder. This role taps everything that the actor does naturally as a performer and as a person, too.

Donnie Brasco (Donnie Brasco)

This role is regarded as his second best performance to date. The best part about it is the way he plays both sides of Brasco so well, one being the dutiful undercover cop who sacrifices his family, and the other being the ‘Wise Guy’ who needs to make inroads with a criminal organisation if he hopes to succeed. Depp dabbled in a genre where he could be conventional in the movie and puts just enough pressure on the dialogue or scene to instantly elevate it.

Raoul Duke (Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas)

A true performer knows how difficult it is to successfully play and do justice to a character in a drug induced haze. The movie may be a mess, but Depp’s performance is both pretentious and restrained. This is a terrific high-wire walk by a performer enamoured with his material.

Sam (Benny & Joon)

This is the closest that Depp has come to filming a rom-com, only he did not compromise his dominant strangeness to fit the need of the script. Depp’s role and performance as Sam is one big beating heart of eccentric whimsy and starring opposite him is the beautiful Mary Stuart Masterson.

Willy Wonka (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory)

Johnny Depp’s commitment to the role of eccentric chocolatier is remarkable and that he almost single-handedly argues for the reboot’s existence. He has the proper contempt for the brats on his tour. What Depp does with Wonka is quite amazing indeed.

Tom Hanson (21 Jump Street)

This role established Depp as a heart-throb, a household name and a dependable actor who could explore just about any movie role. He even reprised his role in the recent 21 Jump Street comedy reboot which proved that even Depp knew how important the role was to his eventual career.